Images of the phones used by the youth and the extorted money.
Credit: DH File Photo
Udupi: A man from Rajasthan has been arrested in an extortion case for allegedly blackmailing a complainant and extorting over Rs 4.44 lakh through threats of circulating a morphed obscene video.
Udupi SP Hariram Shankar said the complainant was first contacted on Facebook by a woman who later initiated a video call. Within minutes of accepting the call, an obscene morphed video carrying his image was created and sent to his WhatsApp. He was then threatened it would be uploaded on social media if money was not paid. Fearing embarrassment, the complainant transferred Rs 4,44,999.97 in multiple transactions.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at the Udupi CEN police station under Sections 308(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(E) of the IT Act.
Acting on the directions of SP Hariram Shankar, Additional SP Sudhakar Nayak, and Karkala DySP Dr Harsha Priyamvada, a special police team was constituted under CEN Police Inspector Ramachandra Nayak and PSI Harish.
The team apprehended a minor in conflict with the law and arrested the main accused, identified as Zaid Mohammed alias Zaid Khan (19), son of Deen Dar, a resident of Deeg district, Rajasthan. Police seized five mobile phones and Rs 2,00,000 cash from him. Several other suspects are absconding. The arrest was made after operations across Rajasthan and Goa. The accused was finally traced and detained near Margao railway station in Goa, said the SP.